LIVERPOOL, England -- Alisson Becker buried his head in his hands. With just five minutes of normal time remaining at Anfield, the Liverpool goalkeeper's frustration was evident as the ball bounced off teammate Darwin Núñez and wide of Wolverhampton Wanderers' net, giving them a goal kick.
Liverpool were leading the Premier League encounter, but only barely. Matheus Cunha's curling finish had halved the deficit for the visitors after first-half goals from Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah had seemingly put Arne Slot's side in firm control of a game that -- at the end of an emotionally charged week -- felt like a must-win. In the end, they sealed the 2-1 victory, but not without a few nerves getting frayed.
On Wednesday night, Liverpool were only seconds away from going nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table. At times on Sunday afternoon, it felt like it would only be a matter of time before their advantage at the summit was reduced to four. Little wonder, then, that Alisson looked unsettled.
After Slot's calls for "cool heads but not cool legs" fell on deaf ears in the Merseyside derby, this game -- a home fixture against a team 17th in the league -- appeared to be just what the doctor ordered. Tensions bubbled over at Goodison Park in midweek following James Tarkowski's 98th-minute equalizer for Everton, with Slot, assistant Sipke Hulshoff and midfielder Curtis Jones all shown red cards after the final whistle. Pressure on Liverpool was then ramped up further on Saturday when Arsenal, despite injuries to several key attacking players, secured a late win at Leicester City to keep the title race alive.
For the league leaders, Wolves' visit to Anfield should have been the calm after the storm. For the best part of an hour, it looked like that might prove to be the case. While far from their sparkling best, Liverpool dominated in the first half and deservedly took the lead with a scruffy finish from Diaz, who nudged the ball in with his hip after gathering Salah's deflected cross.
On 37 minutes, Salah stepped up to settle any lingering nerves, coolly slotting home his 28th goal of the season from the penalty spot after Díaz was clumsily brought down by goalkeeper José Sá inside the area. At that point, the possibility of a Wolves comeback seemed remote.
Twice in the second half, Liverpool were a whisker away from taking the game far beyond their opponents. Salah once again had the ball in the back of the net with a sublime finish but was adjudged to have been marginally offside. Diogo Jota -- making his first Premier League start since October against his former club -- then thought he had won a penalty after going down under a challenge from Emmanuel Agbadou, before referee Simon Hooper overturned his original decision following a VAR review.
That left the door open for Wolves to reassert their place in the contest, with Alisson saving brilliantly from debutant Marshall Munetsi before Cunha whipped the ball past the Brazil international in the 67th minute to set up a nervy finish at Anfield. It speaks volumes about Liverpool's lack of dynamism after the break that it fell to defender Jarell Quansah -- on for Ibrahima Konaté at halftime -- to deliver the moment of the half, sliding in brilliantly to deny what appeared to be a certain goal for Munetsi. When fellow substitute Conor Bradley managed to prevent a Wolves corner in stoppage time, he earned a standing ovation from the home support, whose anxiety had, by that point, become uncomfortably palpable.
Certainly, those of a Liverpool persuasion had little to celebrate from an attacking perspective in the second half. Sunday marked the first time since Opta began collating data in 2003-04 that Liverpool failed to attempt a shot in an entire half of football in a Premier League game at Anfield. The hosts had just three touches in the opposition box after the break compared to 20 in the first half, with Slot's decision to introduce midfielder Wataru Endo in place of Díaz on 71 minutes providing evidence of just how desperately the Liverpool boss wanted his team to establish some control.
"I think the boys were a bit down [after the game]," Slot said in his postmatch news conference. "They felt it wasn't our best performance. That probably tells you how well we have played this season that we weren't happy with that win.
"I said this win is maybe a bigger accomplishment in outplaying Tottenham 4-0. If you want to achieve something in a season, you need to play good football. That's the basis of success. But if you don't have the mentality to win difficult games, then you will never achieve something."
Indeed, Liverpool will need to summon every ounce of mental resilience they have in their armory if they are to make it through the next two weeks unscathed. Back-to-back away games at Aston Villa and Manchester City now await Slot's side; arguably the trickiest run they have faced in the Premier League this season. Win both of those games and the prospect of bringing home a record-equaling 20th league title this term will feel more distinct than ever. Slip up, and Liverpool run the risk of ceding precious ground to Arsenal in the title race.
Either way, the next few months are certain to bring plenty of more twists and turns for Slot's side. If they are to be crowned champions in May, Liverpool -- as they did against Wolves on Sunday -- must continue to hold their nerve.